The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for holding sandwiches together while slicing and inserting them into receptacles such as plastic sandwich bags or vending machine slots.
Sandwiches are a well-known form of food generally comprising two layers of brad having between them an edible filling, such as cheese, tuna fish, meat or the like. Although sandwiches may have a variety of shapes and sizes, certain preparative activities are common to most sandwiches. For example, most sandwiches are sliced into smaller segments, such as halves or quarters, for ease of handling when eating the same. Typically, a sandwich must be compressed during slicing or else it tends to fall apart. Additionally, a common problem in handling a sandwich once it has been assembled is that the contents may tend to fall out from between the pieces of bread, especially when attempting to put the sandwich in a plastic sandwich bag. Therefore, slicing and packaging a sandwich are activities which may cause the sandwich to fall apart.
Further, in a commercial setting, the assembler must use his hands to compress the sandwich for slicing it and while moving it to a plate, container or surface, thus making hygiene a real concern. Since food handling is a common source of food contamination, many customers feel more comfortable in the knowledge that their food has been contacted as little as possible by the hands of the sandwich assembler.
There are a variety of known sandwich holders for use while consuming a sandwich. For example, Rossi U.S. Pat. No. 2,444,116; Wood U.S. Pat. No. 3,355,082; Siemak U.S. Pat. No. 4,511,039; and Ferrero U.S. Pat. No 4,589,553, all disclose sandwich holders for use by the consumer. Essentially, the disclosed sandwich holders comprise opposing holder arms or paddles which are joined at a flexible central portion. The holder arms or paddles may be compressed together to hold a sandwich between them while it is being consumed. However, most of the sandwich holders disclosed in the above-named patents have no mechanism for exposing successively lower portions of a sandwich held therebetween without physically contacting the sandwich The sandwich holder disclosed in the Wood patent suffers from a slightly different disadvantage by requiring that lower portions of a sandwich be successively exposed by folding down portions of the holder arms or paddles. Therefore, the Wood sandwich holder cannot be repeatedly used thereafter.
None of the sandwich holders of the above-referenced patents provide ejection means for ejecting a sandwich from between the holder arms or paddles. In this regard, Mayeaux U.S. Pat. No. 3,481,458 provides a strip which can be moved outwardly by rotating a threaded handle which pushes the sandwich out of the resilient rectangularly shaped cup-like container. However, the Mayeaux sandwich holder suffers from numerous other disadvantages. This includes the fact that the construction of the Mayeaux holder severely limits the size and shape of sandwich with which the holder may be used. Moreover, the Mayeaux sandwich holder is incapable of compressing a sandwich on both sides while it is being sliced and for subsequent insertion of the sliced sandwich into a plastic bag. Further, use of the Mayeaux device is cumbersome.
Puskar U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,589 to discloses a device for inserting filling into a taco shell which essentially comprises a scoop with an elongated plunger portion for pushing a meat filling off the scoop and into a taco shell. This device is merely of interest in that it relates to a mechanism for pushing food off of a holder. However, this device is not adaptable for use with sandwiches since there is no means for holding a sandwich together. Nor is there any provision for compressing and slicing a sandwich held therein.
As such, there are no known devices for handling a sandwich immediately after its assembly and up to its packaging. It is frequently very difficult to slide a sandwich into a plastic bag without losing some of the contents from between the slices of bread of the sandwich, particularly when the sandwich has been cut or sliced. Another difficulty is removing one's hand from underneath the sandwich, when inserting it into a plastic bag, without having the sandwich fall apart. Similar problems can be observed when attempting to place sandwiches in other narrow receptacles, for example, loading slots in vending machines and automats.
For purposes of hygiene and packaging ease, it is important that a sandwich holder be developed for handling of a sandwich in a commercial setting prior to its reaching the consumer. Such a sandwich holder should address those operations from the time the sandwich has been assembled to the time it is packaged. More particularly, a sandwich must be compressed from both sides to prevent loss of the filling material between the bread slices during slicing and packaging. Additionally, there must be a way to insert the sandwich into a receptacle and then remove the device without disturbing the sandwich. No previously known device is suitable for this task.